ChyronHego names new CEO to expand broadcast business

ChyronHego has named a new chief executive as the Melville provider of graphics and data products for television news and sports programming seeks to extend its position in the broadcast industry, the company announced.

Marco Lopez, former president of Grass Valley, a Montreal-based provider of tools for broadcasters, became CEO of private-equity owned ChyronHego effective Jan. 8.

Former CEO Johan Apel will remain with the company as executive chairman of the board and focus on ChyronHego’s sports products, which track athletes and provide metrics to viewers, the company said.

“With this change in our executive team, Marco will apply his deep experience and powerful leadership skills to grow our business amongst broadcast customers, while I will work with the team to continue expanding our worldwide presence in sports,” Apel said in a statement.

ChyronHego, with a headcount of about 250, including about 100 employees in the United States, also has offices in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

In November 2014, the publicly traded company agreed to be taken private in a $120 million deal with San Francisco private equity firm Vector Capital. At that time, the company had about 80 employees on Long Island and 200 overall.